


Perfect Places

by crescentmooons



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Blaise Zabini is a Good Friend, Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter Friendship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Harry is a Little Shit, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, M/M, Oblivious Draco Malfoy, Slow Burn, enemies (not really) to friends, marauders are alive and well, no voldy :), not eVeRyThiNg is accurate pls dont come after me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:14:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29921550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crescentmooons/pseuds/crescentmooons
Summary: It started with a detention. One single, seemingly harmless detention- and now Draco stares into bright, blazing emerald green eyes, and wonders how they ended up like this.
Relationships: Blaise Zabini/Original Character(s), Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	1. Shadows and Monsters - Draco

**Author's Note:**

> the tune draco's humming, if anyone's wondering is the loser by zach farache. (0:15 - 0:37)  
> everyone on tiktok made POVs about draco with that song so :)

**1996- September 27, Friday.**

“I think this is a horrible idea.” 

Harry grinned in the low light of twelve-thirty at night and continued leading the way for a terrified Draco, who looked left and right and up and down in case things from his worst nightmares would jump at him and kill him. He is sixteen years old, deathly afraid of the dark, and has never hated Harry Potter as much as he did before in his life until right now. 

“It’s a _detention_ , Draco. I’m afraid you don’t have a choice,” Harry said softly, and Draco grimaced as his dragon-leather shoe met with the muck from the onslaught of rain earlier. It was terrible.

“It’s a stupid punishment.” he grumbled, crossing his arms as he unwillingly marched through the mud and wet grass. Harry’s wild black hair bounced in front of him as he skipped joyfully and Draco could only wonder where the joy was in this terrifying place. 

Draco groaned when he started to see the grey slabs of stone, legs shaking slightly in his boots and hands twisted together. Frankly, he could turn around and go back to the castle if he wanted to and beg McGonagall for a different punishment, but he had told Harry earlier that he “wasn’t scared at all. It’s just finding a necklace in the graveyard, isn’t it?” 

But he was scared out of his mind. He wished he didn’t have an ounce of pride.

“Well, _you_ said this detention was fine, so _you_ put yourself here,” Harry said coolly, waving his wand around. “Retribution, Malfoy. Learn it.”

“This is _your_ detention too, you lunatic!” 

“Well I’m not the one whinging about it, am I?”

Draco only gritted his teeth bitterly. He kicked a few pebbles out of the way, imagining each one of them was Harry Potter’s slimy little head and wondrously felt a bit better.

They walked towards the graveyard a little faster, Harry whistling some strange Muggle tune and Draco shaking more and more as the headstones scattered around the dusty gravel became clearer and clearer. The moon hung over them, but its light seemed to fade a little more with each step they took.

Once they passed the gates with swirls of ivy and moss climbing around each rusty spike, Draco swallowed as he took in each slab of grey. He’d seen his fair shares of tombstones, of course, but it never failed to send chills down his spine. Harry was still whistling the same annoying tune and it baffled Draco how he was so cheerful in such a grim place. 

How does one lose a necklace in this place, anyway? It’s a graveyard, for Merlin’s sake. What’s one doing in a graveyard this far from the castle? 

“Alright. It’s pretty big, so we’ll split up.” 

Draco shook his head. 

“No,” he said firmly, crossing his arms as he looked around. “Not happening. We’re sticking together, whether you like it or not.” 

Harry grinned, and seeing his stupid bright teeth was getting on Draco’s nerves. He never seemed to stop grinning, and Draco wished he would just… not be so positive at one in the morning. 

“I thought you hated my guts, Malfoy. Didn’t know you were so keen on having me close to you.” 

Draco was appalled. And disgusted. And angry. For once, he regretted punching Longbottom in the face. If he’d just kept his cool, gritted his teeth, just cursed at him behind his back- he wouldn’t be here, serving detention with the most annoying person in the world. 

“My wand is with that old hag, Potter. How am I supposed to do anything without it?” 

Harry looked at him in amusement- a look which Draco did not like. To be fair, Draco didn’t like _everything_ Potter did, but it was this look which irked him the most, like Harry was looking down on him or something. It was infuriating. Draco would most definitely send his father an owl the next day. He hopes there’s a cell in Azkaban with Potter’s name on it.

“We still have hands and eyes, Malfoy,” Harry said, sarcastically waving his hands in front of Draco’s face. “Honestly, you pick up your wand once and forget about everything else.” 

Draco scowled as Harry grinned that stupid grin again, and rolled up his sleeves.

“Alright. You’re on, Potter.” 

_________

Despite his earlier display of bravery, Draco was seconds away from a full-fledged breakdown. Two long, agonising hours had already gone by, yet all he has done was to scare himself more and more as the night drew on. The stupid necklace was nowhere to be found, his hands were getting clammier and clammier and above all he was now truly terrified. At three in the morning, the moon casted dark figures over the tombstones, and Draco was having a hard time differentiating between shadows and ghosts. 

For the first time in four years, Draco wished that Harry was beside him. He despised him, but being alone with someone you hate was ultimately better than being _completely_ alone. However, Harry was completely missing. Long gone. Vanished into thin air, the idiot. Draco couldn’t see any signs of black hair or round-rimmed glasses as he continued walking around the cold graveyard aimlessly. He should have just stayed in the bloody castle. Now he was lost in the middle of nowhere, and he wasn’t even sure if Harry was still in the same place as him. 

After a few more minutes of nowhere, he sat on the cold gravel, wringing his hands together. He’d already reached the end of the graveyard, and there were only acres of huge trees left. He sighed, and hoped Harry would find him soon. 

He waited a while, head in his hands, and when he heard the crunch of gravel, his head snapped up immediately, and he heaved a (hopefully) subtle sigh of relief, before his eyes caught the sparkle of the necklace in Harry’s hands. 

“I win, Malfoy.” 

Draco scowled all the way back to the castle, arms crossed childishly as Harry skipped merrily in front of him. He was happy to go back to the castle- exuberant, even -but his joyous mood was squashed. Of _course_ Harry found the necklace. Just like how Harry topped Potions, how Harry’s Quidditch Captain, how Harry’s a Prefect and would most likely be Head Boy. Luck seemed to be handed to him on a silver platter, and Draco thought this was plain unfair.

“How’d you find it, anyway?” Draco asked, arms still crossed firmly across his chest. He wasn’t going to look friendly in front of him, and hoped he came across as at least mildly intimidating. 

Harry grinned, and withdrew his wand from his coat. 

“Ta-da.”

If Draco wasn’t angry before, he sure as hell was now. As much as he wanted to curse at Potter, he was exhausted, and figured using up whatever little energy he had left on yelling at Potter would be a waste. So he shuffled back to the castle in silent anger, arms still crossed and very much seething. It didn’t help that Potter was skipping alongside him, levitating the necklace in circles around his head. Draco thought of every single curse and hex he could think of all the way back to Hogwarts, and vowed to use each and every one of them on Potter for the rest of the week. 

When they went back to McGonagall, she had her usual speech of never wanting to see them in detention again, though Harry’s probably heard this so many times it’s a part of his usual routine. Draco has no idea how or why Harry still has all his titles with him being in detention every other day. This was Draco’s first time and his father’s already threatened to confiscate his broom, while Harry probably has this detention written down on a list with a gold star next to it.

This is one of the things Draco envies about Harry- not that he’d ever admit to being envious of Potter, of course -but the feeling can’t be helped anyway. His father and Harry’s were so different, and sometimes Draco wondered how nice it would be to stay with the Potter’s. Being forgiven for mistakes instead of punished, enjoying Christmases and holidays, not living in fear all the time. But Draco supposes each family has its shortcomings- and the Potter’s shortcoming was spoiling Harry to death.

When Draco _finally_ got back to his common room, he couldn’t even catch a wink of sleep since the sun was already rising, so he just sighed and jumped onto the sofa. Fortunately for him, it was Saturday the next day, so he could sleep in all he wanted, but nerves and anger and hatred for Harry Potter prevented him from doing so. He was also terrified of his broom getting confiscated, and so he picked at his fingernails a little anxiously. He knew it wouldn’t _really_ happen- even if it did he could always borrow Blaise’s broom, but the broom he has now was his favourite, because his mother had specially customised it with Draco’s favourite colour, ( _not_ green- Draco thinks being painted in green and silver for the past 5 years is enough, and had chosen a bright, bold, startling red) which of course, like most things now, got on his father’s nerves. 

When he had opened the package, the red was so stunning at first that Draco couldn’t do much but stare at it wide-eyed, because he couldn’t believe his mother had really taken his request seriously. She’d probably gone behind Lucius’ back to make it- which was probably the other reason why Draco’s father hated it so much, but that was one of Draco’s favourite days ever.

He also vaguely remembered seeing Potter’s face light up for some weird reason, though he never dwelled on it. He’d immediately taken the broom out for a spin, and spent the entire day zooming around and loved every second of it. Draco was a bit guilty about it now- it’s been a while since he’s used it and it’s been collecting dust and rotting away under his bed, and he resolved to take it to Madam Hooch later or tomorrow to get it cleaned up. 

But that would mean seeing Harry, because the boy simply _had_ to be at the Quidditch pitch ridiculously early every weekend morning. Draco could never understand how it was humanly possible to wake up so early, especially during the weekends. If he could, Draco would sleep till two in the afternoon everyday, with hardly any difficulties. 

Draco glanced at the clock hanging above a bookshelf, and grudgingly decided to get up. He’s definitely not catching sleep anytime soon, so he crept upstairs for his long neglected broom and slowly tip-toed back downstairs and out the common room. Though he’s not part of the Slytherin Quidditch team anymore- courtesy of his wonderful father, after he had broken both his arms in a nasty, close-necked match against Ravenclaw. It was a simple fracture, nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn’t fix, and nothing Draco isn’t used to, but his father had made such a fuss that Draco had said to remove him from the team in a fit of rage, but his father being his father had made that a reality.

He’d been devastated when he found out- so were Blaise and his other teammates, but he thinks they’re doing fine without him, if their new seeker Harper is anything to go by. Personally, Draco thinks he’s loads better, but he doesn’t want to steal Harper’s spotlight. 

He took his broom with him to the shed near the Quidditch pitch, where he found a broomstick servicing kit open on one of the tables. He hasn’t heard any whooshing sounds or general Potter™ noises, and except for the faint sounds of trees rustling and bird chirping, he worked on his broom in silence. He found it comforting, and softly hummed a tune as he polished down the handle.

A few minutes passed as he did this, until he had a sinking feeling he wasn’t alone. Slowly, he turned around, face already furiously red because it meant that someone had heard him humming. He wanted to die. 

Harry Bloody Potter was standing there, Firebolt in his hands, sporting a wicked grin that Draco wanted to slap off his face. 

“That was truly beautiful, Draco. I didn’t know you could sing,” Harry smiled, and Draco was one hundred percent contemplating murder.

“One word, Potter-” Draco hissed, pointing his wand in Harry’s face. “One single word and I’m feeding you to the Giant Squid.” 

Potter only shrugged, still beaming. 

“No guarantees.” He said, winking at Draco, before flying off around the pitch. Draco watched him, counting down the hours until Breakfast. Harry Potter’s a dead man today.

  
  
  



	2. Astronomy Towers and the Way My Heart Flutters - Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for any mistakes!! half drunk writing this and it really isn't my best, so ill edit it later on. hope u guys enjoyed this crappy chapter anyway despite the terrible writing. thank u for waiting patiently<3

**1996- September 28, Saturday.**

Breakfast was an unusually joyous affair, because Harry took immense pleasure in watching Draco squirm as he whispered in his friends’ ears, staring directly at the blond sitting just a table over. Draco looked just about ready to kill, while Blaise and Pansy looked between him and Harry, trying to figure out what was going on. Blaise kind of looked like he was trying not to laugh, actually- definitely adding onto Draco’s troubles. 

Just as Harry was about to pull a face at Draco, a loud crash came from the corridor outside the Great Hall, and Harry saw the blond glaring at him for another split second before turning his head and craning his neck along with everyone else. Harry followed suit, still grinning from ear to ear. 

A small, mousy girl with wild black hair that stuck up at all sides came running into the Great Hall, carrying something shiny and glinting in her hands. Harry couldn’t really see with all the heads blocking him, but he could definitely  _ hear  _ what was going on _.  _ Hundreds of eyes turned to look at him as the girl yelled his name, and he sank into his seat. Hermione eyed him warily, and so did Ron, seeing as they were an item now and had to do  _ everything  _ together, which included being suspicious of their entirely innocent friend. 

“Harry..” Hermione started, and through Harry’s peripheral vision he could see the girl picking up speed, and she was getting close to him with each click of her shoes.

“Whatever it is, I didn’t do it!” Harry hollered, eyes frantically darting around for a place to hide. Unfortunately, he was much too late, because the girl had already reached him and was standing red-faced and flushed in front of him, though she- thankfully -didn’t look  _ too  _ upset. As she heaved and hunched over, trying to catch her breath, Harry racked his brain of all the things he’d done the past week. He doesn’t remember upsetting any girl, so he thought whatever she was here for wouldn’t be too bad. Hopefully. 

Once she got her breath back, she was smiling brightly, holding up an all-too familiar necklace. 

“You  _ weren’t  _ the one who helped me get my necklace back?” She grinned, and it took Harry all his might not to sigh heavily in relief. 

Her name was Wendy Abott, he had learnt later that day. A fifth year Gryffindor, who’d lost the necklace while visiting her late grandmother. The beautiful, sparkling necklace was a family heirloom, dating back to centuries ago. There was ancient magic in it, and if she went a day without it she’d go absolutely mad. 

“You’re a lifesaver, Harry, truly.” She repeated any chance she got, and by evening Harry was feeling very much irritated. It didn’t help that Ron teased him about it every second, and even Hermione admitted that she found it a little funny. 

“Oh, where will I find a tall, strong boy to find my missing jewelry? If only Harry was here…” 

Harry glared at Ginny as she cackled wildly, and briefly contemplated kicking her off the team. It was rather unfortunate he couldn’t as she was Gryffindor’s best Chaser- but Harry reasons it’s in his right as Quidditch Captain to kick people out as and when he pleases. 

Feeling quite suffocated from the common room and Wendy’s constant clinging, he shot her a (hopefully) charming smile and told her he was going to the library to get started on his homework, though really he had finished all his assignments the second he got them. Strong, tough Quidditch player by day, huge nerd by night. 

For extra measure, he brought a couple of books along with him as he walked out of the common room, and wandered the hallways, smiling at the students and trying to duck away from teachers. To be honest, it was getting a bit late to walk around the castle, with the moon already slightly visible and stars twinkling through thin clouds. Thinking of the stars, he headed for the Astronomy Tower, because he recently found out that it was a great place to think and take a breather. He found himself thinking a lot these days, especially after yesterday's detention.

When Professor McGonagall had told him he’d be serving detention with Draco, he couldn’t really believe it. It wasn’t like he hated Draco- at least not as much as Draco seemed to hate him, but he didn’t really like the posh blond git either way. He was arrogant and rude, and held his Pureblood status over anything else. 

At least, that’s what Harry had thought before _ It _ happened. 

Harry was coming back from Quidditch practice (it was a wonder Professor McGonagall let him go after getting caught out of bed at night) when he heard faint sobbing from near the shed, and was horrified to see a poor Ravenclaw boy weeping with heavy tears. He looked like he was in second year, but the enormous black eye he was sporting made it hard for Harry to see. Just as he was about to step in and help him, there was a flash of blond hair and Harry stood there transfixed, watching _ Draco Malfoy  _ patiently tend to the Ravenclaw’s wounds. 

He looked way too comfortable helping the boy clean everything up. Not a flinch at the gash on his knee, not even a bat of an eyelash at the nasty, swelling black eye. It almost seemed like he was used to seeing all these injuries, and Harry wondered if…

No. Whatever was going on in Draco’s life, it wasn’t his job to pry and interfere, though really Harry was slightly concerned. He hoped if he showed Draco he was friendly and willing to put up with all his pompousness and Pureblooded-ness he’d open up to Harry and tell him what’s going on, but it’s painfully obvious that won’t be happening anytime soon.

Draco sort of reminded Harry of one of his friends- Serene Lovedale; not really  _ his  _ friend, she’s more Ginny’s crowd, but a friend of Ginny’s is a friend of Harry’s all the same. He still remembered what she was like when he first met her, bottled up with years of anger and hate, lashing out at anything and everything. She was rough and had been suffering the worst kinds of things back at home, and it had taken Harry months to even talk to her without getting jinxed every second. Their friendship had gone a long way since then, and he’s nothing but proud of her whenever he sees her. 

Though he doesn’t know Draco that well, he’d definitely try to help him if there’s anything going on behind closed doors. Sirius might be able to help him, actually- they were sort of related, weren’t they? Harry didn’t know if Draco would agree so readily, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt to try. 

As he climbed the long, winding stairs up the Tower, he heard someone humming- a very, very familiar tune. In fact, the same tune he had heard this morning, and he suppressed the urge to grin and loudly announce his presence. 

Draco was at the landing, lips pulled into a sort of sad frown. The wind was messing up his normally perfectly gelled hair, making it a little wavy, and Harry felt a small tug in the bottom of his stomach. It was there for a second, and went away as quickly as it came. Harry frowned, wondering what the hell that was all about, until Draco turned, and he was frozen in place. 

“Must you be  _ everywhere  _ I’m at?” Draco groaned, and Harry forgot all about that weird moment. He grinned, and slapped the blond on his back, joining him at the landing. 

“What, not pleased to see me?” Harry winked, and his smile grew when Draco rolled his eyes. 

They stood in silence after a while, staring at the other towers and the lights going off in each one. 

“What are you doing up here, anyway?” Harry asked, as Draco shifted. He didn’t look like he wanted to be here at all, and he leaned against the railings with his brows furrowed. Harry thought he looked much better smiling, and then frowned when he had that thought. 

“What, does this school belong to you?” Draco rolled his eyes. “Can’t go anywhere without getting followed by you now, can I?” 

Harry smiled and shook his head. He stood there, still waiting for an answer, but turned back to the sky when he didn’t get one. He felt sort of awkward, standing next to someone who made it so plain that he didn’t like him. And then there were the weird flutters in his stomach, which Harry wrote off as nerves. Anyone would be nervous, being in such close proximity with someone like Draco. 

“..I like to come here to get my mind off things. Helps me think,” Draco said suddenly.

Harry looked at Draco with wide eyes, and grinned when the blond seemed to flush. 

“I mean- well, you know, it’s nice and quiet. The common room is so noisy all the time and I can barely even hear myself talking-” 

“Yeah, I get you, Malfoy.” Harry laughed, and Draco flushed deeper. It was probably just the view, and getting out of Wendy’s way, but Harry felt himself reddening too, and hurriedly turned back to look straight ahead. If he squinted hard enough, he could make out the Gryffindor Tower, and if he looked even harder he could see that wild black hair of Wendy’s, so he cringed and looked back at Draco. He’d much rather look at him, scary as it was. 

“What about you?” 

Harry pursed his lips. He’d definitely drive Draco away if he told him why he had to come here to think, so he just shrugged. If Draco was giving vague answers, Harry would do the same. 

“Same as you. To think.”

Draco looked at him for a second, and almost looked like he wanted to say something, but changed his mind. He didn’t say anything else after that, and tapped his fingers against the railing. 

“I don’t know why you’re here, but I’m glad you are,” Draco said, a blush creeping up his neck. Harry- despite his heart beating haphazardly out of his chest -said nothing. He was frozen, processing whatever Draco just said. He must have looked like a right idiot, but nothing was more important than whatever Draco was about to say. 

“It gets kind of lonely,” Draco said softly, looking at Harry. “Sort of sad.” 

Harry looked up at the blond- and gasped softly when he saw Draco’s glassy eyes. 

“But what about Pansy? Or Blaise?” 

Draco scoffed, and ran a hand through his hair. Harry tried his best not to stare. 

“Blaise has got Lovedale, and Pansy has her own lot. And they’ve got their own things to worry about, you know? I don’t want to.. impose.” 

Harry frowned, and as he looked at Draco, bathed in the moonlight, hair softly blowing in the wind, was overcome with the urge to protect him from all this negativity he harbours in himself. He never wants to hear Draco talk about himself like that, no matter how much of an asshole he is on the outside. Harry thought back to Draco with the Ravenclaw boy, carefully tending to his wounds and comforting him, and the urge burns deeper in his heart. 

Slowly, he brought his hand to Draco’s shoulder, and patted him gently. 

“Well, you’re my friend, Malfoy,” Harry smiled, ignoring the way his heart soared when Draco’s eyes lit up. “And nothing you do will ever change that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here it is! once again would like to apologise for the horrible quality it was a busy week and i could barely write anything, so i tried my best on this one, though i think ill edit it soon. hope u guys like wendy (hopefully not) and serene, cos theyll be showing up lots!
> 
> have a good day everyone! stay safe nd rmb to stay hydrated <3

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! i hope you enjoyed this chapter :) i don't really have a very very specific way i want this fic to go but i DO have a very very rough blurry outline so yes i might be editing chapters as i go along. 
> 
> i'll try my best to update frequently!
> 
> thank you for reading <3


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